The California state legislature passed a bill prohibiting local governments from incorporating voter ID laws in local elections.
The bill combats the City of Huntington Beach’s approval of voter ID requirements for local elections.
“An overwhelming body of evidence proves that voter ID laws only subvert voter turnout and create barriers to law abiding voters,” wrote bill author State Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine. “To register to vote in California, voters are already required to provide their driver’s license number, California identification number, or the last four digits of their social security number.”
According to the bill, local governments are prohibited from enacting or enforcing any “charter provision, ordinance, or regulation requiring a person to present identification for the purpose of voting or submitting a ballot at any polling place, vote center, or other location where ballots are cast or submitted unless required by state or federal law.”
State Assemblymember Bill Essayli, R-Corona, introduced an amendment to the bill that would have banned illegal immigrants from voting. The amendment failed.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber sued Huntington Beach in April over its voter ID measure.
“The right to freely cast your vote is the foundation of our democracy and Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy flies in the face of this principle,” Bonta said at the time. “State election law already contains robust voter ID requirements with strong protections to prevent voter fraud, while ensuring that every eligible voter can cast their ballot without hardship. Imposing unnecessary obstacles to voter participation disproportionately burdens low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities. We’re asking the court to block Huntington Beach’s unlawful step toward suppressing or disenfranchising voters. The California Department of Justice stands ready to defend the voting rights that make our democracy strong.”
Weber called Huntington Beach’s law “harmful to California voters, especially low-income, the elderly, people of color, those with disabilities, and young voters.”
Independent journalist Kyle Becker wrote on X that the Democratic Party is “continuing to erode election integrity at a time when tens of million of illegal aliens have entered the country who are not eligible to vote.”
